I Became the Hero While Paving a Flower Path for My Niece - Chapter 63

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Joker Paved the Way with Flowers and Became a Hero 063
[Shriek! My bones!!]
[He really ate it!!]
[The madman!!]
[Did he even know what that was before swallowing it?!]
He actually ate it.
Alex stared in disbelief.
The moment Domeric Brodell put Ibek’s Bones into his mouth and swallowed, the blue-green mana that had been sensible through Mana Detection vanished.
[Ugh! My poor bones!]
Domeric Brodell’s magical energy began turning black. It seemed he was being influenced by Ibek’s aura, just as the goblin shaman and the wolf creature had been.
Through Mana Detection, I could feel Domeric Brodell’s magical energy.
The stable power quickly became stained with blue-green aura, and rather than stopping there, it transformed jaggedly like a hedgehog’s spines—as though it were a side effect—and began piercing through Domeric Brodell’s body.
“Gahhhhh! Gack!”
Because of that influence, Domeric Brodell felt pain, and his form began to change.
[Normally attacking someone mid-transformation would break the rules, but!]
[Let’s attack now! Alex!]
I agreed.
“Fire Arrow!”
Alex unleashed an attack spell packed with magical energy.
The defensive Magic Circle that Domeric Brodell had set up was completely destroyed. There was nothing left to block the Fire Arrow.
The arrow of flames flew swiftly and struck Domeric Brodell’s body directly.
“Arghhhhhh!”
As the scorching fire consumed his body, Domeric Brodell screamed as though being burned alive, but unfortunately, that was the end of it.
Even through the agony, the blue-green aura continued to dominate Domeric Brodell’s form.
And finally, like sharp spines, it burst through the left side of Domeric Brodell’s face and transformed into a black tumor.
[Ugh, disgusting.]
In the blink of an eye, the left side of Domeric Brodell’s pale face was covered in black tumors—just like the goblin shaman and the wolf creature before him.
And then,
[My bones!!]
On Domeric Brodell’s left cheek, beneath the skin, I could sense Ibek’s mana.
Unlike the goblin shaman and wolf creature whose corruption had been visible on the surface, Ibek’s white bones weren’t showing this time.
But through Mana Detection, I could sense it clearly.
“Fire Arrow!”
“Shield”
Alex’s attack spell was blocked by Domeric Brodell’s defensive magic. He had adapted.
[Alex, he’s become 4th Circle.]
I know.
Sensing the powerful aura through Mana Detection, Alex hardened his expression and opened his mouth.
“Everyone, be careful. He’s 4th Circle now.”
Dein, Ben, Klaus Brodell, and the knight—all shocked at the sight of Domeric Brodell’s transformation—quickly stepped backward.
“Alex, what is that? Do you know what happened? What did he just eat that made his younger brother transform like this? And suddenly he’s 4th Circle!”
It was Dein who poured out the questions, but the others’ faces were equally full of doubt.
[Should I tell them?]
I wasn’t even sure where to begin or how much to reveal, and we didn’t have time to explain everything.
“Hehehehe!”
A dark mage now—or should I say a Dark Being? In any case, a dangerous presence stood right before us.
“This… Is this the power of 4th Circle?!”
Domeric Brodell’s voice, filled with madness and ecstasy, echoed through the Underground Space.
Now it was difficult to pretend I didn’t know anything.
Alex exhaled softly and explained.
“Simply put, Domeric Brodell became 4th Circle by using something that should never be touched. What you’re seeing is a side effect.”
“Something that should never be touched?”
“The Holy Kingdom would deploy the Holy Knight Order if this got out. That’s how dangerous it is.”
The Holy Kingdom! The Holy Knight Order!
At Alex’s words, everyone immediately grasped the gravity of the danger.
“Domeric! What on earth have you done!”
Klaus Brodell’s cry of horror made Domeric Brodell chuckle.
“What have I done? I simply found a sure and swift way to become 4th Circle.”
Domeric Brodell lifted his hand and touched his left face, now covered in tumors.
“Tsk. I didn’t expect these side effects, but I can hide it with Illusion Magic.”
[‘Does he look like that in the future too?’]
No.
In the ‘future,’ I’d seen his face intact in the Rescue Army’s records.
Without any interference, he must have contracted with the Demons and become a dark sorcerer in the normal way.
[‘He probably never consumed Ibek’s Bones and used them some other way.’]
Regardless.
The real problem was how to bring him down now.
[‘The moment I cast a spell, we all attack together — wouldn’t that work?’]
Even with reaching the 4th Circle, mages were weak in close combat.
Everyone seemed to share the thought; hands gripped swords tighter, bodies coiled and ready to charge forward at any instant.
But Domeric Brodell wasn’t standing idle either.
He’d read through the Dark Grimoire dozens of times and now spoke an incantation he’d memorized perfectly. A strange intuition told him this might actually work.
And he had a good source of energy for it.
“Skeleton Rise!”
At that, the dark magic circle that Alex had ruined with Dig suddenly blazed with light.
More precisely, the blood and Mana Stone Powder that had been filling the carved-out lines shimmered with a sickly green luminescence.
“!”
“Alex! Did the magic circle activate?”
“No. It’s a different spell.”
Blood and Mana Stone Powder streamed outward like jets of water in all directions through the Underground Space. At the ends of those streams lay the bones of the dead.
Clatter-clatter—
The pristine white bones scattered all around suddenly began to vibrate and move. Then, as if assembling themselves, they clumped together as one.
Foot bones attached to leg bones, leg bones to pelvic bones, pelvic bones to torsos, and torsos crowned with skulls until complete skeletons took form.
Skeletons.
[‘Heck!’]
[‘Skeletons down here?!’]
“Damn it!”
Dozens of skeletons, weapons in hand, materialized and encircled Alex’s group. Curses rose involuntarily to everyone’s lips.
“Alex! What is this?!”
“Sir Alex! Captain Atin! What manner of magic is this?!”
Dein and Klaus Brodell, who’d never seen or even heard of undead creatures like skeletons, recoiled in horror, as did the others.
How could they have known?
The Holy Kingdom disposed of such monsters in secret whenever they appeared.
“Sir Branch Chief! The bones are moving!”
“The exit is blocked!”
The two Guild members securing the escape route with Captain Atin screamed.
[‘Right! The guards!’]
Alex spun around in alarm.
Where flesh and skin had hung intact mere moments ago, five skeletons now stood bare of everything, gripping daggers.
[‘Those ones must have been skilled in life — they’d be Skeleton Warriors for sure!’]
Alex reached the same conclusion.
“Dein! Take the rear! They’re fewer in number, but they’ll be stronger!”
“Got it! Ben!”
Dein and Ben headed toward the back, the two Guild members took the flank, while Klaus Brodell, the Knight, and Alex covered the front.
Captain Atin remained protected in the middle.
[‘At least those are just bones from common folk — that’s something.’]
Though seeing their vastly greater numbers, it was hardly comforting.
And there was something else — standing before Domeric Brodell was yet another corpse.
[‘The Zenortab sorcerer!’]
As blood and Mana Stone Powder touched Colin’s corpse, his flesh dissolved away until only bone remained. Then that skeletal form rose to its feet.
From that skull emanated a magical aura wholly different from the skeletons before them — fierce and potent.
“A Skeleton Mage!”
[‘A Skeleton Mage!’]
A skeleton capable of casting spells.
And on top of that, there was Domeric Brodell himself — a 4th Circle mage.
“Kill them all!”
Clatter! Clatter!
Without vocal cords to produce sound, the skeletons advanced in eerie silence, yet their grotesque forms and movements pressed down on everyone with suffocating weight.
As the skeleton warriors rushed forward swinging their weapons, Alex urgently shouted:
“Watch out! Even after you take them down, the skeletons will reform!”
“What? What are you talking about?”
Alex had no need to explain further.
Everyone would experience it directly.
A Guild member sidestepped the incoming skeleton’s blade and swung hard, striking it square—the skeleton wavered as if it might collapse.
“Huh? This is easier than I thought—!”
The moment the Guild member spoke, the dislocated bones reassembled. The skeleton, whole once more, immediately raised its sword against them.
“Ugh!”
Clang!
Fortunately, thanks to Alex’s warning, they managed to block it in time.
The others faced a similar situation.
No matter how many times they struck with their blades, the skeletons simply returned to their original form and attacked again.
“Continuous attacks aren’t working!”
“These bones are harder than normal ones.”
“Alex, is there any way out of this?!”
Though there were only five of them, the situation with the Skeleton Warriors further back was no better.
[Aim for the head!]
[If you destroy the head, it won’t move anymore!]
Ibek shouted.
But Alex called out differently.
“Shatter the bones—skull, arm, whatever—as much as possible! Once you do, that bone won’t move again!”
[Huh? You said just attacking the head was enough!]
[And that bone won’t move? Not that the skeleton won’t move?]
In response to Ibek’s confusion, Alex demonstrated it directly.
He attacked the skeleton’s skull with his sword, and part of it shattered.
[Yeah! You got it!]
[Now it won’t move… wait, why is it still moving?!]
The skeleton with the damaged skull raised its sword and attacked.
Alex dodged the blade and explained quietly.
“Normally, a skeleton would collapse if you even crack its skull slightly… but this is a corrupted skeleton infused with your Mana, so it’s different.”
[…What?]
At those words, Ibek recalled what Alex had told him.
Demons and monsters far stronger than they were during the past invasion.
A special magical aura that weakened Divine Power to half its effectiveness.
[Ah… ah!!]
[Uuuaaaagh!!]
[I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!]
Ibek, the very cause of this, shrieked his apologies.
Since Domeric Brodell had consumed Ibek’s Bones and cast Dark Magic using them, it was natural that the skeletons were strengthened by the influence of his bones.
“Even if they fall apart, don’t let your guard down! If they reassemble using other nearby bones, they’ll be whole again!”
“What?!”
Indeed, one skeleton discarded its completely shattered skull, and the bones nearby—clacking! clacking!—reassembled into a new head, which it fitted back into place.
[Insane! What kind of 4th Circle skeleton is this?!]
[Is it because of my bones?! It has to be because of my bones?!]
“Fireball!”
Alex unleashed attack magic to topple the skeletons, though not many bones were shattered by it.
“Fireball!”
Even Atin, whose condition was far from good, lent his support.
But with dozens of skeletons pressing forward in a relentless tide and constantly rising again, they couldn’t hold them back.
“Ungh!”
Wounds multiplied one after another.
“Mr. Alex! Is there no other way?”
“The only option is to incapacitate or kill the sorcerer controlling them!”
It was obvious, if you thought about it.
‘But how…’
They were already overwhelmed just holding back the skeletons—could they really break through and reach Domeric Brodell?
“Fire Arrow!”
Alex and Atin attempted to cast magic at Domeric Brodell, but he blocked it effortlessly with a Shield.
“Dark Arrow!”
“—!”
Dark magic from both Domeric Brodell and the Skeleton Mage flew toward Alex and his companions.
Bang!
Alex detonated the Dark Arrow mid-air with a Fireball, his jaw clenched.
The Skeletons were falling one by one, but at this rate, he wouldn’t hold out.
‘Should I dump everything I have?’
If he threw caution aside the way he had against the Goblin Shaman, could he win?
But the Goblin Shaman had been weak.
The poison magic he could detonate, and the weakening curse simply hadn’t taken hold.
[Alex! Alex!]
Ibek, who had been silent until now, called out to him urgently.
[I think there might be a way to try!]
Then do it now!

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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